$200 Ubuntu Linux PC Now Available at Wal-Mart
Thursday November 1, 2007
This is pretty darned cool. I bought a $300 desktop from Walmart a few years ago and it’s still running OpenSUSE and serving as a pretty capable desktop machine for the family. Definitely worthwhile to put our FOSS dollars where our mouths are too, imho. Let’s support the companies who are actively putting the software that we think is best out there! =:)
$200 Ubuntu Linux PC Now Available at Wal-Mart | Gadget Lab from Wired.com
$200 Ubuntu Linux PC Now Available at Wal-Mart
Hi Jason,
I have to respectfully disagree. I love that linux is getting out via some of the big-league commercial channels, but “supporting [Wall-Mart]”??
I started and ran an alternative toy co. (Design Science Toys) for almost 20 years. Wall Mart’s entry into (what they called) ‘specialty toys’ bankrupted my entire customer list (~4,000 stores in the US) and eventually my company as well.
It’s a gray area, but from my perspective the gray is rather dark. Wall Mart’s basic business strategy is predatory: of the community, of it’s customers, and especially of it’s suppliers. Not sure if carrying some linux boxes in their store tips the balance of good/evil enough for them to merit our support.
Stuart
Hi Stuart!!
Wow, you definitely have a much different experience with WalMart than the average consumer. =:) And yeah, I don’t claim to know or say whether WalMart is good or evil, etc. But whether it’s WalMart, Circuit City, Dell, Best Buy, Fryes, or McDonalds, if somebody is attempting to sell pre-installed Linux systems, I think it’s important for those in the Linux community to show our support. Corporations don’t care what we say… they care what we spend. And it’s hypocritical and counter-productive for us loud Linux proponents to on the one hand complain about our lack of choice and support from hardware vendors and on the other hand, snub our noses at them when they try. That’s all I’m saying. =:)
Really sorry to hear about your horrible business experience too, by the way. That totally sucks. =:((